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McVay Elementary School

Public Grades K-4
207th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 216 North Dakota Elementary Schools
Better than 4% of North Dakota elementary schools
Summary

McVay Elementary School is a public elementary school serving 431 students in grades K-4 in Williston, North Dakota, which is part of the Williston Basin 7 school district.

Despite having a relatively high per-student spending of $12,108, which is above the state average, McVay Elementary has consistently ranked in the bottom quarter of North Dakota elementary schools over the past few years, with a ranking between 200-212 out of around 215-217 schools. The school faces significant challenges, including very high chronic absenteeism rates ranging from 20% to 42%, and poor student performance on state assessments, with only 19% of McVay students proficient or better in math, compared to 27% for the district and 41% statewide. The school's struggles are not shared by all the other schools in the Williston Basin 7 district, such as Garden Valley, Missouri Ridge, Hagan, and Rickard, which generally outperform McVay Elementary on key metrics.

While McVay Elementary has seen a decrease in its student-teacher ratio from 24.2 in 2021-2022 to 21.5 in 2023-2024, the ratio is still higher than the nearby schools, which may be a contributing factor to the school's challenges. Additionally, the school has seen a significant increase in the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, from 21.79% in 2021-2022 to 34.57% in 2023-2024, suggesting an increasing proportion of students from low-income families. These factors, combined with the school's poor performance for certain student subgroups, highlight the need for a deeper examination of the specific issues facing McVay Elementary and the development of targeted interventions to address these concerns.

449
Students ?
22.4
Student/teacher ratio ?
$17,108
Per pupil spending ?
44.8%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 420 University Ave
       Williston, ND  58801

(701) 572-9104

District: Williston Basin 7

Racial breakdown:

White:
53.9%
Hispanic:
21.4%
Two or more races:
13.8%
more
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At a glance
▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 3rd percentile in 2022 → 4th in 2025
Worth a look
!Test scores below the North Dakota average (24% vs 40% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (4th percentile)
!High chronic absenteeism (42% vs 20% North Dakota)
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school24%
District avg27%
North Dakota avg40%
207th of 216
North Dakota public elementary schools ?
Bottom 4%▲ up 1 pts since 2022
See the entire ranking list of North Dakota Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
5th of 7Elementary Schools in the Williston Basin 7
126th of 134Williston Basin 7 among North Dakota districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202513.2207 of 2164.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20249.5212 of 2172.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202316.9200 of 2157.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20228.5210 of 2173.2%☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202535.914 of 1717.6%★★☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202528.5123 of 14314.0%★☆☆☆☆
20247.6135 of 1382.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202315.2129 of 1375.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20228.8137 of 1412.8%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202534.15 of 944.4%★★★☆☆
202422.73 of 30.0%★★★★☆
202360.71 of 475.0%★★★★★
202220.43 of 30.0%★★★★☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202517.296 of 1015.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202422.986 of 937.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202319.388 of 880.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202248.431 of 6451.6%★★★☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202512.5139 of 1432.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202413.6133 of 1383.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202326.4119 of 13713.1%★☆☆☆☆
202220.6125 of 14111.3%★☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202515.579 of 834.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202414.175 of 795.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202325.963 of 7111.3%★☆☆☆☆
202219.666 of 7512.0%★☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Hispanic (2025)44th percentile+40 vs school
English Language Learner (2025)18th percentile+13 vs school
Female (2025)14th percentile+10 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)5th percentile~ school
White (2025)5th percentile~ school
Male (2025)3rd percentile~ school
By subject vs North Dakota (2024-2025) ?
Science29%-9 vs state
Reading26%-14 vs state
Math19%-22 vs state

★
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Frequently Asked Questions about McVay Elementary School

McVay Elementary School ranks in the bottom 4.2% of North Dakota elementary schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 449 students attended McVay Elementary School.

Students at McVay Elementary School are 54% White, 21% Hispanic, 14% Two or more races, 9% African American, 1% American Indian.


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NDNorth Dakota Elementary School Rankings

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Schools in Williston, ND

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.

About North Dakota Assessment Data: To protect student privacy, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction reports assessment results as percentage ranges rather than exact values. SchoolDigger calculates proficiency rates using midpoint imputation, which uses the center value of each reported range. For example, a reported range of 20-29% is represented as 24.5%. As a result, the proficiency rates shown may vary by approximately ±5 percentage points from actual values. This variance is most significant for individual grade/subject combinations and diminishes when data is aggregated across multiple grades or subjects.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.




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